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Morning Musings, Uncategorized

The First Half…

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Genesis One….(v.1-13)       

Verses 1-13….

   There is a lot more to how the world began than what the modern day scientists think. It started off with no shape of any sort and was dark and empty. We are told that the world has foundations and pillars in the constructions of this globe that we live on (Job 9:6-10)…

   Science tells us (and we see it in the eruption of volcanoes) that the centre of the earth is a boiling mass. Just as Matthew tells us that God has already prepared a kingdom for His people, there is already a place prepared for the devil and his angels. This place is popularly supposed to be the centre of the earth, but seeing the outside of the globe is going to be done away with, it could be somewhere more permanent!  (Matthew 25:34, 41; 2 Peter 3:7-13)

We wonder what the source of the original light was, the first thing that God created. The earth was already spinning as there was a clear definition of night and day. The waters above (mists and clouds) were separated from the waters beneath (seas and oceans) by the atmosphere, air and clouds on the second day (Job 38:4-12). The third day brought the dry land, oceans, seas and rivers, as well as the vegetation, and the earth was now ready to bear fruit.

God brought the earth from dark to light, God spoke and it burst into sight, The air and all the world around, Were put in place, with all  their  bounds.

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Morning Musings, Uncategorized

Who Actually Created the World?

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Genesis One….(v.1-2)            

Verses 1-2….

   Verse one goes on to say, “God created the heaven and the earth”. Who actually did the creating? Many people think that it was God the Father that did the creating, but there are many verses that show the whole Trinity was involved in the creating business. Let’s look at them….

   Both the writer to the Hebrews and John say that the Son was involved in the creation and in fact, is still seeing to the upholding of the original creation….keeping it going if you like (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2-3). We also see that the Father and the Son do nothing without including the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:6-8). It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Son and God’s truths to mere mortal mankind. All this was ordained and put in order before the world began.

   No wonder Paul goes on to write that man hasn’t even begun to see and hear the wonderful things that God has in store for His people…..in fact, it is beyond our comprehension while we are earth-bound. (1 Corinthians 2:7-11; Ephesians 3:9-11).

Just as a caterpillar has no comprehension of the freedom and beauty of the fluttering butterfly it will become, so man cannot take in or even imagine what lies ahead!! And this is all part of God’s eternal plan….we don’t know yet what we will become, but we DO know that when we see our Lord Jesus we will become like Him! (1 John 3:2)

God created man to be with Him, To live on earth with Him within;

To be with Him in heav’n above, To know his peace and light and love.

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Morning Musings, Uncategorized

God’s Books

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   Last time we talked about God’s plan, and today we will look at His books. It seems that each person has a page (or two!) in God’s books…our genes, make-up, thoughts, deeds, and words are all written down in His books long before we were ever thought of, before even the foundation of the world (Psalm 139:15-16).

   Our tears and feelings as well as our words are all written down in His Book (Malachi 3:16; Matthew 12:36). What we talk about is all recorded there, and we will have to give an account of it at the Day of Judgment….we will have to go into every detail of all the idle words we have ever uttered. If it is not written in a literal book, then it will be indelibly written in our minds, and maybe that would be even worse!

   The Book of Life is the most well known of God’s books with several references to it, and this was also written up BEFORE the world began…there are also a couple of mentions of names being blotted out of it…(Revelation 3:5; 17:8b; 22:10)

   In the light of all this, how much more important is it to read and ponder the things in God’s Book, the Bible which is so freely available to us today!

God’s books were written long ago, With names and deeds all there to show,

So let’s make sure that we read, His Book today and to it heed!

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Morning Musings, Uncategorized

My Heart, God’s Home (4) The Dining Room

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     From there we went into the dining room. the room of appetites and desires. I spent a lot of time and hard work here trying to satisfy my hunger and my wants. I said to Him, “This is a favourite room. I am quite sure You will be pleased with what we serve.’ He seated Himself at the table with me and asked, “What is on the menu for dinner?”  “Well,” I said, “my favourite dishes: money, academic degrees and stocks, with newspaper articles of fame and fortune as side dishes.”  These were the things I liked – secular fare.

When the food was placed before Him, He said nothing, but I observed that He did not eat it. I said to Him, “Master, don’t You care for this food? What is the trouble?” He answered, “I have food to eat that you do not know of. If you want food that really satisfies you, you must do the will of the Father. Stop seeking your own pleasures, desires, and satisfaction. Seek to please Him. That is the food that will satisfy you!”

    It was there at the table, that He gave me a taste of the joy of doing God’s will. What flavour! There is no food like it in all the world. It alone satisfies the hungry soul.

Life Lessons, Uncategorized

Frustrations!

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      My computer has been playing up and causing me much frustration. One day it would behave itself, and I would give a sigh of relief….”Ah, it’s come right”, I would think and then the next day it would be back to its old tricks again. Even my fix-it man didn’t seem to be able to get anywhere with it. So I bit the bullet and replaced it with a new one. 

     It reminded me of how frustrating we must be to God (if indeed He could ever feel that way!) when we don’t operate as He wants us to. Yet He doesn’t get rid of us, He just works patiently with us until we wake up and realise that the troubles we are in, are all of our own making. How thankful we can be that the Lord is always there to forgive when we come to Him in contrition and confession! He will never throw us out, although we may have to pay in this life for our foolish actions, We should always remember that our choices have consequences  which we may not like, and which we often have to live with for the rest of our lives.

     My old computer probably didn’t like being thrown into the dump out in the weather, but that was the end result of it. Just remember the next time you are being tempted by something that seems exciting and desirable, that the end result is only likely to bring tears and regrets. It is better to be safe than sorry about some of these choices that face us as we travel down life’s highway!

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Fellowship IS Important!

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   We had a good weekend away in our motorhome recently, meeting with other members of the Good News Vanners Club. These gatherings are held every few weeks, in different venues around our area, and it is a great time of fellowship for us all. Coming as we do from various churches, we don’t get a chance to meet with these folk anywhere else.

     We have great times of singing the good old favourite hymns which we grew up with (as you might guess, we are all in the older age bracket!), and share testimonies of what the Lord has done for us, both recently, and in times past. In this way we can encourage each other and build each other up as well as enjoy each other’s company.

      It is not for nothing that we are told to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as some do, but to exhort and encourage one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)” After all, we are all in the family of God, and just as it grieves us as parents to see our children at odds with each other, so it must grieve the heart of God to see His children not able to get along with each other…surely we can agree to disagree amicably on points we don’t see eye to eye about!  So we are the ones who miss out in the long run, if we absent ourselves from others in the family of God.     Just as a coal gets cold on its own away from the fire, so those who stay away from fellowshipping with others will gradually grow cold, especially if it is because of some resentment of others on our part!

     So the moral of the story is…keep fellowshipping with others, read the Word daily and grow in the Lord!

Grandma's Stories, Stories for Teens, Uncategorized

Pilgrim’s Progress (3)

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Still on the way to Losing the Back-Pack

     Bobby was busy setting the table and whistling tunelessly as he did it. “Did Uncle Jeff always like telling stories?” he asked his mother. “I remember when he was little we could never be sure whether he was telling us stories or things that had really happened”, she said, “Yes, he has always liked telling stories”.

After tea was over, Betty grabbed Uncle Jeff’s hand, and said, “Come over here Uncle Jeff, we want to hear more story’. When they were settled down (with Sarah not far away again), Uncle Jeff said, “Well, where did we get up to?” “ Pilgrim wanted to get rid of his back-pack but he didn’t know how to”, Bobby said. “That’s right, I remember now,” said Uncle Jeff and he carried on with the story.

Pilgrim’s  heavy back-pack seemed to be heavier than ever. Suddenly he saw another person coming towards him. This was Mr. Smarty-Pants and he lived in the village of Selfishness just around the hill out of sight. ‘What are you carrying that heavy back-pack for?’ he wanted to know. ‘I’m going to the little gate beside that Light over there, and they’ll tell me how to get rid of it’, Pilgrim said. ‘Why don’t you take it off yourself?’ ask Mr. Smarty-Pants. ‘I can’t budge it’, said Pilgrim, ‘Nothing I can do will move it’. ‘How did you get this heavy load anyway?’ Mr. Smarty-Pants wanted to know. ‘It came upon me while I was reading this book I have here’, Pilgrim said. ‘Oh, I know all about that’, Smarty-Pants said with a wink, ‘You shouldn’t have been meddling with things that you don’t understand. Who told you to come this way anyway?’ ‘A man called Evangelist’, he replied. ‘He’s a dangerous man that’, said Smarty-Pants, ‘He’s always telling people that there’s only one way to get to the Kingdom. He’s so narrow minded, he doesn’t know what he is talking about! You want to watch out for that Gate….the road through there is so narrow and hard, and there are lions and dragons ready to grab you every step of the way.’

  Smarty-Pants still hadn’t finished with Pilgrim and he told him to come and live in the same village of Selfishness where he was. He would be able to just think about himself there and everything would be so easy. Pilgrim thought this was a good idea, and he turned to go there while Smarty-Pants went the other way.      But the weather started to get dull and it began to rain. Then he could hear thunder begin to rumble. ‘Whatever shall I do?’ he thought as he put his head down and struggled on. ‘Hullo my good man”, he heard someone say, and he looked up to see who it was. It was Evangelist standing there holding a raincoat for him. ‘Here, put this on. What are you doing here?’ he asked, ‘Did you forget that I told you not to leave the trail?’ Pilgrim hung his head in shame. ‘Smarty-Pants said it would be an easier road and that I would lose my back-pack sooner’, he muttered. ‘You should remember what the King says to those who turn away…He says, ‘My soul has no pleasure in them! ‘ ‘Oh, I’m so sorry’, cried Pilgrim, ‘ Is there any hope for me?’ ‘Of course there is’, said Evangelist kindly, ‘There’s the path over there, just follow it to the gate and you will find help there.’

“He was a silly man, wasn’t he?” Betty interrupted, “He should have kept on the right path!” “Yes, he should have,” uncle Jeff said, “We can learn a lesson from this for ourselves, and that is to never give up staying on the right road even if it DOES seem harder than the other ways”.

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What do You See?

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   Someone sent an email the other day telling the story of a professor who was setting his students an exam. He handed the papers all out upside down, and then told them to turn the page over. They found it was just a blank piece of paper with a large black dot in the middle of it. He told them to have a good look at it, and then write down what they were seeing.

   Without exception, they all wrote about the black spot, where it was on the page and the effect it had on the paper. The professor told them that not one had commented on the whiteness of the paper or the size of it in comparison to the black spot, and then pointed out the moral of the story….how much we concentrate on the wrong things around us instead of on the good things we see. That reminded me that I’m like that too, and it ought not to be !

  So whenever things annoy or grate on you, just remember to overlook the black spot in  the middle of the page and focus on the white size of the paper!!